Gaming history. We all know about the giants at TSR, but who else is on that list of influential gamers, writers, and coders? Thomas A Knight made a top 5 list that I sort of agree with, but I think there are some other folks who should be included – Lord British was brought up this week on Twitter, but I also think about the geniuses at Infocom who brought us Zork out of the ashes of Colossal Cave Adventure… Who else is missing?

Games and Gaming

A
couple of weeks ago, Dennis Santana at Spirits of Eden described a shop in such a way that I felt as though I might actually be able to walk in and peruse the shelves… Zuri Makavana’s Potion Shop might have been set in the city of Impel, but I think it could be at home in just about any setting. From the shopkeepers and potions on the shelf to the customers who frequent the shop, this place is amazingly detailed.

I’m slowly accepting 4e, though I really don’t like it all that much. This week Michael explores why 4e seems complex at the Id DM. The tables in the article are staggering by themselves and I really just need to sit down and read through the whole thing again so I can start to digest it…

Publisher News

I was very excited a couple of weeks ago with Iain Lowson contacted me about new developments coming for Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein. Resistance sounds great and should answer many of the questions I had reading DH:LoF, but I’m also excited by the prospect of new DH:LoF fiction! Check out the Dark Harvest website for more details.

Gold Piece Publications released OUBLIETTE Issue 7 this week, described as a “magazine for old school fantasy roleplayers.” It seems to cover Labyrinth Lord, Castles & Crusades, and older versions of D&D. I’m excited to see more of the “old school” movement offer this sort of thing for those of us who like a shotgun approach (scattered smaller items instead of one long item) and will definitely check it out.

(Just added!) Raging Swan has just released Orcs of the Eternal Zenith for the Pathfinder RPG and it sounds Evil (notice the capital “E”) with a damned philosophy and a machine threatening to tear a hole in reality. Who knew the worship of a Sun god could be a bad thing? Check out details at the Raging Swan website.

Do you remember the old AD&D Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide? I do. And like The Secret DM, it changed a few things for me from straight hallways to scarred stone walls etched with the names of the Dwarven craftsmen responsible for their construction… I don’t remember “The Alignment Wars” however – though it definitely does break the “fourth wall” as he puts it. When will we ever get past that damn alignment chart anyway?

Over at Troll in the Corner, Ben took some time to review the Castle Ravenloft board game from WotC. I love the fact that it’s a team game that can be played with 1 to 5 players. Not many of these board
games work for a single player. Looks like a lot of parts, but I always liked the concepts behind the Ravenloft setting and wouldn’t mind checking it out at some point. At $65 however, it’s not going to happen any time soon.

I was also pointed to a resource at the WotC Community forums that I’m going to have to mine from time to time. It’s a list of “1001 threads” – puzzles, items, characters, ideas, descriptions… dang near anything you can think of, there’s probably a list for it. Check it out.

In case you need a few “damned things,” you should check out this great table at HereticWorks. Who needs the plagues of Egypt? There are some scary things on this list!

Or maybe you need a few “Hardcore D&D items” for 4e? Scott at the Trollish Delver has you covered. None of my characters will ever be able to afford any of these items, but they’re very cool.

And if you’re looking for a little “Divine Motivation” for your cleric, you might want to check out J.J. Sloane’s article at This is My Game. I’m going with #6 – “If I don’t complete [insert action], I will turn into a pumpkin at midnight.” Damn those blue fairies and fairy godmothers!

And Sean Fannon at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow has pulled together a collection of every comic strip he’s done in the DriveThruRPG Newsletter since the beginning, with lots of commentary. It’s selling for $5 and all the money is going to Doctors Without Borders. If you get a chance and have a fiver to toss that way, DWB can always use the funds for the amazing work they do. A round of applause should go to Sean for all that he and the rest of the OneBookShelf folks do around the world to help people who need it!

That’s it for this week on the news front.

I hope everybody has a great weekend!

As always, if you feel I missed something (and it would be impossible NOT to), drop me a quick note via the contact page and I’ll add it to the list for next week!

5 comments to News from Around the Net: 02-DEC-2011

Hi, Baz here. I pulled together those G+ posts manually. It’s not too laborious, you just go to your own profile and cut and paste from there. Definitely not pretty, but effective. I found it really easy to post to G+ as I read it through rather than wait for the whole piece at the end.
Thanks for the shout out.Baz Stevens recently posted…Review: Leverage RPG

@Baz Stevens – Very cool. Thanks for the confirmation. I like the idea of the gradual review and may have to do that myself for some of the huge books/games I have in my review queue rather than doing it all at once. 🙂

Thanks for the kind words. I really do love what Blackbyrne Publishing produce. The pricing is outstanding when compared to how amazing the quality of the writing, layout, and maps. Jeff is a talent writer who really puts thought into each of his adventures to make sure that the all the encounters, combat or otherwise have relevancy to the story and our entertaining. Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the link love. I was actually afraid I was writing too much about the shop. I’m glad to know that all the details have inspired someone. I won’t be afraid to go into that depth again.Dennis N. Santana recently posted…Expedition: A Few New Paradigms